College Summit honors New Haven peer leaders at luncheon (video)

Alexandra Sanders, Register Staff

Published 12:00 am, Thursday, May 31, 2012

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City_ Dr. Marco Clark, Founder/CEO of the Richard Wright Urban Charter School in Washington, D.C., addresses students at the 2012 College Summit Connecticut Annual Awards Luncheon. The event was held at the Omni Hotel. Melanie Stengel/Register less

City_ Dr. Marco Clark, Founder/CEO of the Richard Wright Urban Charter School in Washington, D.C., addresses students at the 2012 College Summit Connecticut Annual Awards Luncheon. The event was held at the ... more

College Summit was introduced at Co-op first in 2009 and school principal Frank Costanzo said it has made a significant difference.

"The college acceptance rate gas gone up and the culture around secondary education has changed dramatically," he said. "We have seen a much more college-bound culture."

The college acceptance rate at Co-op was 80 percent before the program was introduced, compared to 90 percent today, Costanzo said. When asked how many of those students graduate college, he said the district has started the process of looking at enrollment figures after three semesters in college, but it's still in its infancy.

"We made a good decision a couple of years ago to say college going is important," said Mayor John DeStefano Jr. "The point is: if you go to college, you earn more money; if you go to college, you tend to be healthier; if you go to college, your kids tend to lead more successful lives. (Then) go to work, feel good about your work. If you're lucky, you get to do things and be with people you like."

He added that right now, New Haven has an average of 31 percent of people who go to college. On Thursday, he told students to make that number climb to 40 percent and beyond, and be microphones for their peers.

New Haven is the first school district that is trying to build a college culture starting in pre-kindergarten, according to Superintendent of Schools Reginald Mayo.

Dr. Marco Clark, founder and CEO of Richard Wright Urban Charter School in Washington, D.C. told the students his story starting with being deemed "functionally illiterate" at age 11, giving up on school and turning to the street. He eventually became re-invigorated about going to college and after about 150 rejections, he went on to earn a bachelor's degree, three master's degrees and a doctorate. Clark told the students they too can jump over hurdles seemingly blocking their paths and reach their college dreams.

Aloysia Jean, a Hillhouse peer leader, told her peers that they don't need to be sleeping to have dreams.

"As a peer leader I thought I'd dream with my eyes wide open. That's what we all do and that's what we all did when we got to College Summit our very first day," she said.

Following the ceremony, Hillhouse Peer Leader Kadene Pitter was awarded the Peer Leader of the Year Award, which accompanied a $1,000 scholarship and an Ipad. MBA won the $5,000 Deloitte Award for Creating a College-Going Culture.